The penultimate round of league matches saw two semi-final places
booked as defending champions Luxfords St George’s Hill and Warwick
University / Kenilworth Squash secured their playoff places in the
Southern and Northern divisions.

In the Southern Division St George’s Hill put out a strong team
against visiting Welsh Wizards, who needed a win to keep their
playoff hopes alive, and it was the home team who took a 4-0
advantage to secure their playoff spot. Marwan ElShorbagy beat elder
brother Mohamed in the decider but it was too late for the Wizards,
who look set to finish third in their first season.

Coolhurst continued their strong finish to the season with a 4-1
away win at Chichester, but the second playoff spot will likely go
to Tradition @ RAC who travel to Bexley on Friday needing 13 points
from two matches to guarantee a second consecutive semi-final
appearance.

Northern division leaders WarKens lost 3-2 at Pontefract, Saurav
Ghosal winning the deciding match for the home team, but qualify for
the semi-finals after second-placed University of Birmingham Lions
lost 1-4 away to Nottingham. Birmingham and Nottingham meet in the
final round to decide the second playoff spot, with Pontefract going
in with a 5-point advantage.
North Group:

With three rounds to play as the semi-finals approach, Warwick /
Kenilworth and the Welsh Wizards both claimed away wins as Round
Eight got under way on Tuesday.

Northern Division leaders WarKens took the opening three matches
away at the University of Nottingham, running out 4-1 winners to
establish a 24-point lead that guarantees them a first appearance in
the semi-finals. Either Pontefract or Birmingham Lions will join
them in the playoffs.

In the Southern Division the Welsh Wizards went two-nil up away to
Chichester, but the home team struck back to level the match.
Wizards’ Peter Creed came from a game down to beat Tim Vail in the
decider, taking the Welsh outfit to the top of the Southern Division
table – until Friday, when round eight concludes with two matches in
each division – by a single point.

The seventh round of
the Premier Squash League saw Warwick University/Kenilworth Squash
and Tradition@RAC maintain their leads at the top of the Northern
and Southern divisions as the competition for playoff places
intensified on a night of clear-cut results.

WarKens bounced back from their first defeat in the last round with
a comprehensive 4-1 home win over UWE/Elite Squash Bristol to open
up a 14-point gap at the top of the division.

Team Pontefract, who suffered a surprising reversal in the previous
round, bounced back with a five-nil home win over 2017 champions
University of Nottingham to regain second place over University of
Birmingham Lions, who went down five-nil to a jubilant
Northumberland Club/Newcastle University team who moved off the
bottom at Bristol’s expense.

In the Southern Division top of the table clash it was Tradition@RAC
who took the spoils away to the Welsh Wizards, while reigning
champions Luxfords St George’s Hill beat bottom of the table
Chichester 4-1 to move into second place.

With two rounds to go and only the top two in each division going
into the semi-finals, WarKens have a good lead in the Northern
Division with all the other teams still in with a chance, while the
Southern Division looks to be a three-horse race unless Bexley or
Coolhurst can score an emphatic win in Friday’s final round seven
match.

The second half of the Premier Squash League season started with the
reverse fixtures from October’s Round One.

In the Northern division unbeaten leaders Warwick University /
Kenilworth Squash travelled to University of Birmingham Lions, and
the home side quickly established a two-nil lead courtesy of Millie
Tomlinson and Stewart Macgregor. Daniel Mekbib pulled one back for
the visitors but it was only a stay of execution as Jaymie Hayckock
and Joel Makin wrapped up the win to put the Lions into second place
behind still-leaders WarKen.

Northumberland Club / Newcastle University got off to a good start
at University of Nottingham (at the Park Club) as Lisa Aitken put
the visitors into the lead, but the home side struck back to take
the next four matches to complete the double win over Newcastle.

Early leaders Team Pontefract travelled to UWE / Elite Squash
Bristol for a match that looked like it could go 5-0 either way. On
the day it was Bristol who took all five matches to record their
first win of the season and move off the bottom of the table.
Pontefract slip a point behind Nottingham into fourth place.

Southern Division leaders Tradition@RAC hosted defending champions
Luxfords St George’s Hill, and the visitors stormed into a 3-0 lead
courtesy of Mohamed ElShorbagy, Joelle King and Robbie Temple,
running out the 4-1 winners to close the gap at the top of the
table.

Bottom placed Team Chichester hosted Bexley and took a 2-0 lead via
wins from Miles Jenkins and Alison Thomson. Bexley fought back with
Benjamin Aubert and Rui Soares putting them level, but Chichester’s
Mathieu clinched their first win as he beat Olli Tuominen 2-1 in the
decider.

The final round before the Christmas break saw
Warwick/Kenilworth and Tradition@RAC maintain their positions at the
top of the divisional tables.

In the Northern Division WarKens travelled to Newcastle and recorded
a second successive five-nil win to increase their lead, taking four
of the matches two games to one. Pontefract returned to winning ways
at home to Birmingham to put themselves into second place, while
Nottingham, having takes a 3-0 lead over Bristol, had to settle for
a 3-2 win to leave themselves in fourth place, behind Birmingham.

In the Southern Division leaders RAC recovered from losing the first
match at Chichester to consolidate their position with a 4-1
advantage. Defending Champions St George’s Hill bounced back to
winning ways with a 4-1 home win over Coolhurst to go second.

Round Five concludes on Friday with Bexley v Welsh Wizards, and the
second half of the season kicks off on 6th Jan with further dates
still to be confirmed.

As the halfway point of the season approaches, teams were looking to
consolidate or improve their starts, but tonight’s Round Four
matches proved to be all about the home teams and saw some
significant swings in the league tables.

Friday 30th :
Coolhurst v Chichester & Bristol v Newcastle
In the Friday matches Coolhurst moved into fourth place in the
Southern Division as they sneaked a home win against Chichester,
Haley Mendez winning the decisive women’s match, while Newcastle
moved off the bottom of the Northern Division table with their first
win of the season away to Bristol.

Tonight’s overall score was 19-1 in favour of the home sides, and
that ‘1’ came in the last match of the night to finish!

In the Southern Division new entrants Welsh Wizards, fielding four
Welsh players, thrashed reigning champions and previously unbeaten
Luxfords St George’s Hill, going four-nil up with four two-nil wins
before St George’s Tom Richards came from a game down against Omar
Mosaad to add some respectability to the scoreline.

That win sees the Wizards overtake St George’s by two points, but
it’s still Tradition @ RAC who lead the way by eight points after
they recorded a 5-0 win at home to Bexley, all five matches
finishing two-one in RAC’s favour.

In the Northern Division leaders Pontefract travelled to University
of Warwick / Kenilworth Squash – both with three wins out of three-
with a strong looking team but came away with just a solitary point
as the “WarKens” put themselves at the top of the table with a
resounding 5-0 win, topped off by Raphael Kandra beating James
Willstrop two nil.

University of Birmingham Lions welcomed 2017 champions University of
Nottingham, and they too won five nil, restricting the visitors to
just two points, to go second in the table.

Round Four concludes on Friday with two more matches, and the first
half of the season finishes with Round Five on 4th & 7th Dec.

The third round of league action in the Premier Squash League saw
Warwick/Kenilworth, Luxfords St George’s Hill and Team Pontefract
claim their third wins. St George’s move to the top of the Southern
Division while Pontefract head the Northern division with WarKens in
close attendance.

In the early start in London’s Pall Mall, Tradition @ RAC quickly
took control against Coolhurst, wrapping up the win 3-0 before
Adrian Waller brought the visitors back into it, but RAC’s Daryl
Selby beat Greg Lobban 3-11, 12-10, 15-13 to give the home side a
4-1 win.

Defending Champions Luxfords St George’s Hill got off to a good
start at home to Bexley as Jasmine Hutton won 12-10, 12-10 in the
first match, and World #1 Mohamed ElShorbagy rounded off a 5-0 team
victory with an 11-0, 12-10 scoreline! St George’s go top, but are
just a single point ahead of Trads.

Another 5-0 scoreline came in Cardiff as the Welsh Wizards put
visiting Chichester to the sword, David and Tesni Evans starting the
ball rolling and Peter Creed sealing the maximum as he came from a
game down to win the final match.

Warwick/Kenilworth went three-nil up against 2016 champions
University of Nottingham, thanks to wins from home hero Saraj-Jane
Perry and debutants Nick Wall and Daniel Mekbib, Iker Pajares made
it 4-0 before Nick Matthew salvaged some points for Nottingham as he
beat Raphael Kandra in the final match.

Northern Division leaders Pontefract didn’t have it all their own
way at home to new entrants Northumberland Club / Newcastle
University. Patrick Rooney gave the home side the lead, but Piedro
Schweertman levelled as he beat LJ Anjema in an all-Dutch battle.
Alan Clyne led before Chris Simpson rallied to put Pontefract back
in the lead, Laura Massaro then wrapped up the win but James
Willstrop had to come from a game down to beat Cameron Pilley and
keep Pontefract at the top of the table.

Round Two of the 2018/19 Premier Squash League saw Tradition @ RAC
and Team Pontefract go top of their divisions with contrasting wins.

The traditional early start (6.30) at RAC saw the home side quickly
take control against the visiting Welsh Wizards as Daryl Selby put
them into the lead and Alison Waters came through in close games
against Tesni Evans. The home side powered on to a five-nil win to
take them to the top of the table.

Reigning Champions St George’s Hill found themselves two-nil down at
Chichester after wins from Miles Jenkins and Jared Carter, and the
home side had a chance to clinch victory in the third match, but St
George’s Jasmine Hutton sneaked the second 12-10 on her way to
beating Ali Thomson. Tom Richards made it two-all, and world #1
Mohamed ElShorbagy completed the St George’s comeback.

On Friday, Coolhurst had beaten Bexley 3-2 in a nailbiting
encounter, taking the pair temporarily to the top of the division.

In the Northern Division Pontefract took a strong team to 2016
champions Nottingham, and took a two-nil lead courtesy of Laura
Massaro and Abhay Singh. Nottingham’s fightback began with new
Cleveland champion Richie Fallows beating Patrick Rooney in three,
but Chris Simpson sealed the win for Pontefract, coming from a game
down to beat Declan James before Nick Matthew reduced the deficit
for the home side.

The other two matches both went to deciders in the top strings, Joel
Makin seeing Birmingham Lions through against Newcastle with a 2-0
win over Cameron Pilley, while Raphael Kandra sealed the away win
for Warwick/Kenilworth, comig from a game down to beat Bristol
number one Youssef Soliman.

The 2018/19 Premier Squash League season kicked off with five
fixtures around the UK, featuring a new best-of-three format with
all five matches played on the host club's showcourt.

Defending champions Luxfords St George's Hill stole the show with an
against-the-odds 3-2 home win over Tradition @ RAC in a repeat of
last season's final.

Jasmine Hutton came from a game down to beat Nantes champion Nele
Gilis to get St George's - who lost their scheduled #1 Borja Golan
to injury yesterday - off to a great start. Late replacement
Sebastien Bonmalais came from a game down for another upset win over
Ben Coleman, and St George's own Charlie Lee secured the unlikely
win as he beat Daryl Selby 2-1 for one of his best ever wins.

Also in the Southern Division, newcomers Welsh Wizards got off to a
winning start as they beat Coolhurst 3-2 in the first PSL match to
be staged in Cardiff. The first two matches were shared, but it was
siblings Tesni and Emyr evans who secured the win for the Welsh in
front of a sellout crowd at the National Centre before Greg Lobban
made the scoreline respectable for the visitors.

There were contrasting results in the Northern Division - 2017
Champions University of Nottingham beat newcomers Northumberland
Club / Newcastle University 5-0 in front of a packed and noisy
Geordie crowd. Nottingham secured maximum points (now 13) as they
won all five matches 2-0. Cameron Pilley came closest to winning a
first-ever point for the Newcastle side as he recovered from a 0-6
start to hold game ball against Nick Matthew, but it wasn't to be as
Matthew closed out the clean sweep.

Team Pontefract, who reached the playoffs for the first time last
season and have a strong squad again, took a 4-0 lead over UWE/Elite
Sport Bristol before in-form Egyptian Youssef Soliman put a point on
the board for the visitors.

In the only match of the night to go to a decider, University of
Warwick / Kenilworth Squash got their second season in the PSA off
to winning start at home to University of Birmingham Lions. Millie
Tomlinson and Stuart Macgregor put the visitors two-nil up, only for
Mark Fuller and Mahesh Mangaonkar to level the match. In the decider
Iker Pajares came from a game down to secure the points for the 'Warkens'.

Round One concludes with Bexley v Chichester in the Southern
Division on
Friday 28th September.

The Premier Squash League (PSL) returns for the 2018/19 season
bolstered by the addition of two new teams and a revised format.

Joining the PSL this season are Squash Wales and Newcastle
University / Northumberland Club, whilst the ten teams who contested
last season remain.

Squash Wales have announced a provisional squad including British
National champion Tesni Evans and Welsh National champion Peter
Creed. The governing body will use the event as a development
platform to transition players into the arena of competitive and
international squash.

Squash Wales High Performance Coach, David Evans said: “It’s superb
to have top-level squash back in Wales after so long being out of
the league. It will be superb for our players to compete against
other world ranked opponents in front of a vocal home crowd.”

Squash Wales Director of Coaching, Mike Workman said: “After the
recent success of our senior players at a series of prestigious
international events, the time is right to expose a greater number
of Welsh players to this higher standard. With the current
resurgence in both playing and spectator participation, it is our
job to generate increased publicity and coverage for Welsh squash –
at home and further afield.”

Newcastle University / Northumberland Club - a joint venture between
the two venues, will make their debut against Nottingham on 25th
September.

Liam Gutcher, Team Manager for Newcastle University said: “Newcastle
University is delighted to be partnering the Northumberland Club in
bringing squash of the highest level regularly to such a thriving
squash community. There is a huge appetite for professional squash
in the area and we are so excited to be involved in such an exciting
project that will inspire the talent of tomorrow and firmly place
Newcastle on the squash map. The chance for our students to
represent the team and compete at this level isn’t something many
universities can offer, adding to an already well-established and
supportive squash programme for young players.”

Ross Graham, Team Manager for the Northumberland Club said: “This is
a significant step forwards for the club and one which we are
pleased to be doing with our partners Newcastle University. The aim
of bringing top level sport to the North East has always been at the
forefront of our plans, which through the support from long term
sponsors VW Lookers, we can now make a reality. Juniors and adults
from around the UK will be able to purchase season tickets as well
as match day tickets to come watch some of the best in the game
right on their doorstep."

Split into north and south divisions, 12 teams from across the UK
will complete 10 league rounds consisting of four men and one woman,
where for the first time, each tie will be played as best-of-three.

The respective winner and runner-up of the north and south divisions
will qualify for the semi-finals played over a weekend at a single
venue.

England Squash CEO Keir Worth said: “The Premier Squash League
provides a great showcase for our sport and the welcome addition of
Squash Wales and Newcastle University / Northumberland Club coupled
with the revised format will make the event even more competitive.”